


Heartless

by AnnieVH



Series: Behind Closed Doors [13]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Adultery, Angst, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-15
Updated: 2015-01-15
Packaged: 2018-03-07 16:14:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3176981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnnieVH/pseuds/AnnieVH
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He almost made it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Heartless

**Author's Note:**

> Part of series BEHIND CLOSED DOORS and a fill to this prompt (http://rumbelleprompts.tumblr.com/post/90082568530/rumple-milah-neal-belle-tw-domestic)
> 
> A companion piece for this picspam (http://annievh.tumblr.com/post/102166515522/behind-closed-doors-warnings-domestic-abuse).
> 
> Pairings for this verse: eventual Rumbelle and Swanfire.  
> Warnings for this verse: abusive relationship, implied non-con situations, child-abuse, violence, infidelity, very anti-Milah.
> 
> A HUGE THANKS to Maddie who's doing all the beta in this verse :)

Malcolm Gold Jr. was not unfamiliar with fear. Far from it. In 35 years of existence, he felt like he had experienced every spectrum of that word known to man. Most of them inspired by the same person.

God.

The past 17 years had been a rollercoaster.

But it was nothing compared to what he was feeling at that very moment, standing in front of the cabin, tapping his fingers on the handle of his cane, and just hoping – _praying_ that Cora would come.

What would he do if she didn't? He couldn't go back home. Milah would probably have read his letter by now. She'd be calling their lawyer, or maybe leafing through the yellow pages to find one for herself.

He shouldn't have written her a letter. He should have faced what he had done, like real men do. She'd be heartbroken. And furious. Really furious.

Besides, that was evidence! She could get whatever she wanted out of him now. Whatever generous alimony he was planning to offer, she could double it, she could triple it, because he was an unfaithful husband and he deserved to pay for his crime.

She could show it to Bae.

Good lord, she could show it to Bae before Rumple had the chance to tell his side of the story. All that waiting for him to be older to avoid a custody battle would be in vain. Rumple could never forgive _his_ father for all the women he brought into the house, and that was _after_ his mother had passed away. Bae would never forgive him for cheating on his mother.

Nor should he.

This was so wrong.

It had been wrong from the start.

He shouldn't be here.

He shouldn't be waiting for Cora and Cora wasn't going to-

“Hi.”

Rumple's heart leaped out of his chest. He had kept his eyes on the road for almost two hours, and yet he had failed to see her coming towards him.

He replied, “Hi,” and the sound was like a sigh.

“You look relieved.”

“I am,” he answered. “I was concerned.”

“Well, here I am.”

Cora opened her arms, keeping them low. It wasn't a request for a hug, she was not given to asking anything from anyone. But he limped towards her anyway and wrapped his arms around her. Cora hugged him back without hesitation, the way she always did.

Safely kept in her arms, he couldn't even remember why he had been so scared to begin with. How could he have doubted that she'd show up? She had made him a promise. Cora had never broken a promise in six months of secret meetings and furtive planning. It was one of the things he loved the most about her.

And he didn't have to win her affection over with gifts or apologies.

And she never raised her voice or said how disappointing he was, in any aspect.

And she shared the cot in the back of his shop more than once with him and took care not to hit his bad ankle by accident.

And she was beautiful, god, so beautiful. He could bury his face in her curls and stay there for hours.

Rumpel held her face and kissed her lips, just like he planned to do every day from now on. The town would talk, it always did. The gossip column would probably run a full length article on the messy situation, something along the lines of, “Cora Mills left her husband, Councilman Henry Mills, to marry Malcolm Gold – pawnbroker, businessman, and ten years her junior.”

The age gap would probably be the greatest source of outrage (Milah would take it as a personal offense), but he couldn't care less. Hell, they didn't even have to stay in town anymore. They could see the world together, just as they had talked so many times before.

“Love?” Cora said, when their lips parted.

“Hm?” Rumple mumbled through a smile.

“We need to talk.”

He pulled back to look at her face. “Is something wrong?”

Instead of answering, she asked, “Did you talk to Milah?”

“Yes. Well, I left her a letter.”

Cora lowered her eyes to the ground.

Rumple knew that expression very well. He had seen it on Milah's face almost on a daily basis. Disappointment.

His stomach sunk. Six months together and _now_ when they were about to get everything – their proverbial happy ending – he let her down by failing to do the one thing she had asked.

He started ranting, “I know it's not very... it's a cowardly move, but if I had stayed and talked... honestly, she wouldn't have left me out of the house. Or she might have followed me here. Although, I think it's safe to say we'll talk a lot once the lawyers get involved-”

“It's not it.”

Rumple stopped talking and looked at her, expecting an explanation. But Cora, who was always very sure of herself and always knew what to say, went quiet and, for once, seemed to struggle with her words.

He asked, “What happened, Cora?”

She was quiet for a few more seconds, measuring her words. When she thought she had found the right ones, she started explaining, “It's Henry. I was going to tell him tonight, but-”

“You couldn't do it?”

“No, I could. I just chose not to.”

“Ah,” he replied, not knowing what else to say.

Cora raised her eyes to meet his gaze. “I can't do it.”

Rumple absorbed what she had said. He wanted to ask, “What do you mean?” but knew that would have been redundant. He knew what she meant by that.

The next question came out as an accusation, “Who won the election, Cora?”

“Please, don't make this difficult-”

He cut in. “You promised me it wouldn't matter.”

“I thought it wouldn't.”

“You didn't know until very recently that you'd rather have a Mayor than a pawnbroker for a husband?”

It wasn't a question, so she didn't answer. The bitterness in his voice didn't seem to affect her in the least.

“I have a child to think about,” she finally said. “If I want Regina to succeed in her political career, the moment to start is now, when she can feed off her father's victory and reputation. If I leave, she'll give it all up just to spite me, and then who's going to-”

“Don't put this on Regina,” he interrupted again, fidgeting with his cane. “She's twenty two. She's old enough to make her own decisions.”

“When has my daughter made a good decision in her life? She almost eloped with that foolish boy because she thought she was in love.”

“God forbid people marry for reasons other than self-interest.”

Cora met his eyes. She looked ready to debate the issue, but didn't.

Without looking away, he threw a final accusation at her, “You never loved me.”And maybe the heartbreak in his voice was too much for her to bare because, despite everything she had said, Cora reached for his face with the back of her hand. Rumple knew better than to hope, but he leaned into her touch, offered his cheek for her to stroke.

For a moment, he thought he saw something deep inside her eyes trying to reach the surface. But whether it was love, doubt or guilt, he never found out because she pulled away and said, “I'm sorry, my dear Rumple. I can't be with you anymore.”

Cora turned around and retraced her steps into the woods.

Rumple did not move, waiting for her to turn back and say she had changed her mind. She _had_ to. This couldn't be it. Last night they had shared the bed inside the cabin and made so many plans. They were going to be together. They were going to be _happy_ together.

When it became clear she would not come back, he launched himself forward three wobbly steps, calling for her, “Cora, please! _Please_! You can't do this!”

Cora didn't give him any indication she had heard him.

“Cora!” he pleaded, thinking of the letter he had written, sitting on the kitchen counter, waiting for Milah to read it. “Cora, you don't understand. I _can't_ go back home now!”

She didn't turn. But this time she answered, “Then don't.”

**Author's Note:**

> A list of all one-shots in verse chronological order can be found here: http://annievh.tumblr.com/post/102166515522/behind-closed-doors-warnings-domestic-abuse
> 
> I'm still taking prompts for this verse if anybody wants to send them.
> 
> I'm also doing a ASK MY CHARACTERS (http://annievh.tumblr.com/post/106018882167/ask-my-characters-a-question-and-they-shall).


End file.
